Break You Down
by xUnforgettableLove
Summary: Carlos' twin sister, Elly, has disappeared, and everyone is on edge, assuming the worst. Once she walks in days later, questions are raised, people are changing, and things aren't as they seem.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, how are you all doing? Well, I came up with this idea on Saturday, and I worked till 1 a.m. on it, fell asleep, then edited it all Sunday. Things are very vague, I will admit, but that's part of the process. I just wanna thank all of you for reading this, and I would appreciate if you reviewed. **

Carlos' lips were pressed together tightly as he banged against her door once again.

"Locking the door won't make me go away!" He yelled directly into the slim space between the door frame and the wooden door itself. Lately, his sister had been on edge, snapping at everyone and anyone in sight. It was very rare that Elly would even frown, netherless yell at someone.

"Come on!" He exclaimed, his tone more calm this time as his palms rested against the door tiredly.

Note to self: Don't bang on door more than twice.

"Can we at least talk?" He mumbled sadly. There was no response. He sighed in defeat, his hand digging into his pocket as he made his way downstairs. The other line picked up as a sweet voice filled his ear.

"Hello?"

"Do you mind me coming over?" He asked, waiting for an answer as he tapped his fingers against the hall table anxiously.

"No, of course not. What's up?" Worry was visible in her voice, and he drew a breath before replying.

"I'll talk to you there." He shut his phone, stuffing it into his pocket as he slammed the door behind him. The car ride was blurry, his main focus was his argument with his sister.

_"Hey, I made you chocolate chip waffles," He greeted her eagerly, wiping his hands on his sweatpants. She nodded, grabbing the plate along with a fork and the bottle of maple syrup. Her head remained low as she sat at the island, beginning to pour the topping onto the waffle. Her grip on the bottle tightened, angrily dripping the syrup onto the plate. Once the plate could not fit anymore syrup, she slammed the bottle onto the countertop. Carlos' eyes widened, setting down the frying pan. _

_"Um, are you okay?" He assumed she had cramps, or some other girl thing he didn't know and had no interest in learning. She glanced up, her eyes narrowed. _

_"Oh, so you care now?" Her voice could freeze a Popsicle. He rubbed the back of his neck, a bit puzzled on her snappy response. He remained silent as she continued to rant._

_ "You think you know everything, as if you're better. Guess what? YOU'RE NOT." She pushed her chair back, letting the fork drop to the ground, making a loud sound, echoing off the walls as she made her way out of the kitchen, beginning to stomp up the steps. _

_"What is the matter with you?" He shouted as he followed after her, trailing after her. He tugged on her wrist, only to have her squirm roughly._

_ "Don't touch me!" She pushed him away, her force hard against his chest. He stumbled on the step before catching himself, his grip tight on the railing. No look of remorse past her face as she stared hard at him._

_Her whole expression was as blank as a clean piece of paper. Her brown eyes, he noticed, were dark. _

_"Elly," He said in a mere whisper. _

_"Shut up," She ordered. _

_"I don't wanna talk to you." _

_"But you're my sister!" He exclaimed, a bit hurt by her words. She stifled a humorless laugh before making her way upstairs, shutting the door. _

That had been yesterday morning. He had avoided her since, not wanting his head to be bitten off. This morning, he decided to talk it out. That's what they always did when they fought, which was rare.

The door was opened, and his arms swooped around her before she could mutter a hello. She returned the hug, blinking as she patted his back. Once they pulled away, he made his way to the living room, were Kendall and Logan sat along with Sam, watching the Patriots game. They all mumbled quick hellos, clearly focused on the game.

"CUT YOUR DAMN HAIR BRADY, YOU LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT!" Sam shouted, as if the television could respond.

"She won't talk to me," He mumbled sadly, crossing his arms as he sunk into the couch.

"Who's not talking to you?" Kendall questioned, popping another tortilla chip into his mouth.

"Your girlfriend," He answered, a bit annoyed.

"Oh. She hasn't talked to me either," He admitted.

"Really?" That got both Sam and Logan's attention as they sat up, muting the game.

"Yeah, she only replied to my text yesterday, like once," Anna added.

"Maybe all of you should go talk to her," Logan suggested.

"Yeah, she's probably just upset or sick," Sam assumed with a shrug.

"She didn't even open the door this morning."

"Well, we can always try again." Each bobbed their heads in agreement.

"I'm driving!" Logan announced, grabbing the keys before anyone else could. Carlos remained silent as they walked out onto the porch, near the garage to his car. She held onto his hand, squeezing it lightly.

"I promise, everything's gonna be okay. It's just a little argument. You're her brother, and she loves you." She offered a smile, poking his side in attempt to make him laugh. He cracked a small smile, thanking her as his arm wrapped around her shoulder. They piled into the car, driving down the streets.

Once they arrived, Carlos slipped his key into the lock, opening up the door.

"It's chilly in here," Sam noted, adding a shiver for effect.

"That's weird," He mumbled, slipping off his jacket. "The heat has been on all day."

"Maybe she opened a window," Logan offered with a shrug.

"Do you want me to go up first?" Anna asked, resting her hand on his arm.

"I'll go, I wanna talk to her," Kendall mumbled before sprinting up the steps. He tapped on her door lightly.

"Elly? It's Kendall." There was no response. He frowned.

"Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?" He sighed as he heard nothing. "I'm coming in, okay?" He took the silence as a positive response, gripping onto the doorknob as he attempted to turn it.

"She locked it," He muttered to himself.

"Carlos, Logan," He called, motioning for them to come upstairs. They obeyed, soon next to him along with Anna and Sam.

"She locked it." Carlos groaned. "I'm gonna have to bust down the door, aren't I?" They nodded, as he frowned. Hesitantly, he pressed his palms to his jeans, wiping them. He grunted as his shoulder met the door, but he was successful as the lock burst open, the door being pushed.

"She's not here," He mumbled. He made his way inside, along with the others. Something was off right away, Carlos didn't know what, but the rush in his veins and his heartbeat increasing gave him a hint.

Her bed was made, and everything was perfect. There were pictures of Elly with her cheerleading friends spread across the vanity. The bear Kendall had won her on their second date remained on the dresser as well.

"The window's open.." Logan noted, walking over to the end of the bed, closing the window.

"Her ipod's still here." Both Anna and Sam said aloud. "She doesn't go anywhere without it.." They all glanced at each other, the worry visible in their eyes.

"Call her," Carlos shouted, gripping onto Kendall's wrist rather tightly. Grimacing, he nodded, gathering his iPhone in his hand as he pressed call. His hand began to shake as he pressed the screen to his ear.


	2. Chapter 2

The call went straight to voicemail, leaving the group of friends hopeless. With a sigh, he slipped his phone back into his pocket, being sure to put his settings on loud, in case she called back later. Where was his girlfriend? It was so unlike her to leave without letting anyone know, especially her brother. Not having her parents around growing up, they depended on each other for everything. Kendall knew better than anyone that if Elly had any type of problem, Carlos was the first to know, to his dismay.

"How about we just relax, she could've just gone to the gym," He offered. Whenever she was stressed or upset, she took a trip to the gym to clear her head. She always made sure she stayed fit, toned to a level she was comfortable with. Why the sudden change in her spirit, he wondered to himself. Instead of concerning Carlos and the others even more, he took out his phone while the others called her other friends asking for her whereabouts. He opened his inbox, clicking on their conversation.

Me: hey whatcha doing tonight?

Baby: I'm going to dinner with some of my cheer friends, sorry

Me: No it's fine! I just wanted to watch Spiderman, but rain check?

Baby: I'm all yours tomorrow, promise

Me: Okay, have fun, love you

Baby: thanks.

She didn't say she loved him back… This was getting weirder by the second. The response was very simple from her, considering she always put smiley faces and hearts letting him know how much she cared for him, even though it was via text. She was a very affectionate person in certain ways, phone being one of them. Kendall was so used to getting a random text from her with a picture letting him know that she loved him, even if they had saw each other moments later. She was a very sweet person, someone who could never get on your bad side, even when they argued, which was rare.

"Did you guys get into an argument?" Carlos questioned, interrupting his thoughts.

"No, in fact she seemed perfectly fine..." He shrugged it off, not knowing who he was attempting to convince, Carlos or himself. His best friend seemed to notice this, as he pressed on. "You sure dude? You can tell me, Elly has been pretty on the edge lately." He couldn't even deny it. His once cheerful little sister had acted completely different in the past few days. He could just never put his hand on what was wrong.

Maybe it was his fault. Maybe he wasn't asking how she was enough, wasn't caught up in her life anymore. He hadn't asked her how she had been in days, he had to admit. He just assumed she was fine. She always walked in with a smile, singing some One Direction song or something. He just thought she had severe mood swings, as an explanation for her latest behavior.

"You know what?" He said aloud, as the others glanced over at him. "Let's not even stress about this," He said with a forced smile. "My sister is not the type to worry; she's probably just out and her phone died or something. She'll be home by curfew, definitely." The others murmured in agreement, although all of them knew something was off about all of this.

"I'm just going to leave her a voicemail, her phone probably died so she'll charge it in the car," Kendall offered, patting Carlos' back before walking out of the room. He stopped on the edge of the stairs, sitting down on the top step. He dialed the familiar number, putting the phone to his ear once more. This time her personalized message played.

"Hi, it's Elly, leave a message and I'll get back to you. Oh and if your name is Kendall Knight, I love you!" He smiled softly at this, then hearing her giggle. "I'll call back as soon as I can." Beep. He sighed. "Hi beautiful, I'm calling because we're all pretty worried about you but I know you, you wouldn't leave us all without answers. I bet you're at the gym doing some Zumba class… I just wanted you to know I love you Elly, so much. Call me back when you can. Bye." He pressed the 'END' button, standing back up as the others came out.

"Let's go get something to eat, so we don't sit here worrying," Anna suggested, "I'm getting pretty hungry, it's around dinner time." The others agreed, all shuffling out the door towards Kendall's truck.

"_Kendall I wish you'd clean this car, it's disgusting having my feet surrounded by your organic potato chip bags, which taste like shit, by the way." With a roll of his eyes, he shut the door, turning on the engine. "Why are you always complaining about my car? I don't complain about yours…" She raised an eyebrow at him, as he shot back a goofy grin. "Don't you dare lie, you always do! 'Oh, your car smells like perfume. I don't want to smell like perfume. It isn't masculine...' You are always complaining babe."_

"_Elly it's so true though, I really don't want to walk into class and have one of my friends ask me why I smell like the inside of Victoria's Secret!" She giggled. He loved her giggle, it was the cutest thing he had ever heard, as cliché as that sounded. Everything about her just left him in awe. Her dimples flashed as she continued to laugh, then finally stopping. "How do they know what the inside of Victoria's Secret smells like?" She suddenly questioned; a puzzled look on her face. "Your friends aren't the type to go panty shopping with their girlfriends…" She pointed out, pursing her lips in the process. Something she always did when she spoke defensively. Kendall himself even felt uncomfortable in the store, although many men came in with their partners, he didn't feel it was necessary to stare at the latest pair of thongs or 'sexy' nightgowns. He'd much rather go to another store and then meet with her after she was done. _

"_I just don't like staring at panties, that's all," He shot back, a bit annoyed. She was always the type to tease, and sometimes it got him frustrated. Although he didn't show it often, he was a very sensitive person. He kept it to himself, thinking his friends would all tease him and no one would take him seriously. Elly noticed the sudden change in his eyes, and slid next to him. As they sat at a red light, she grabbed his free hand and laced it through hers. She gave him a quick squeeze, causing him to look down at her. "Love you," she said in a light voice, her eyes growing wide like a deer caught in headlights. She always did this whenever he got upset. "I love you too." He was such a sucker for her big brown eyes, and she knew it. He sighed as she grinned, and kissed her. _

"_I hate when you do that, you know that right?" _

"_Yes, I do." _

"Kendall? Dude?" He blinked several times, trying to comprehend where he was. "Oh," he muttered, a bit disappointed once noticing it was Carlos sitting beside him, not Elly. "Are you okay?" His best friend asked, a confused look on his face. "Yeah, fine, I was just thinking, that's all…" "Okay… well can you drive now? I'm pretty hungry." "Yeah sure," he nodded as he pulled out of the driveway with a sigh. For the first time, he was driving away from her house without her being in the seat beside him. It was a weird feeling, somewhat of chills traveling up your spine, and not the good kind, either.


End file.
